NEWS & DOCUMENTARY NEWS & DOCUMENTARY - TVWeek

32nd Annual
NEWS &
DOCUMENTARY
EMMY®AWARDS
EMMY AWARDS
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT
In 1994, the beachfront one on one with Marlon
Brando—complete with Brando’s kiss for Larry.
The desktop debate between Al Gore and Ross
Perot about NAFTA that Larry moderated with
skill and focus. Tammy Faye Messner’s last televised
interview on the eve of her death.
Through it all, King maintained a simple
philosophy: “In my 50 years of broadcasting I’ve
learned that the interviewer and interviewee have
something irrevocably in common; they’re both
human. My goal in talking to people from all walks
of life—in all kinds of situations—has never been
to judge. It has always been to simply understand.”
And while he was always welcoming and made
guests comfortable, he wasn’t looking to make
friends. “I’ve never been concerned about someone’s
liking me tomorrow. I never think of access or good
will. I just want a good interview. I want guests to be
informative and entertaining,” he said.
Oprah Winfrey, the queen of the talk show
format, remembered how impressed she was to
learn of Larry King’s impact around the world. “At
this Ngala Range Reserve, and we have the tracker,
who is one of the most powerful black men I had
ever seen…I was asking him about Michael Jordan,
and he didn’t know who Michael Jordan was…he
didn’t know who I was either…but he asked me if I
knew Larry King. In a little village in Botswana, the
tracker doesn’t know who Michael Jordan is, but he
knows Larry. That just blows my mind.”
As someone on the other side of the mike, the
interviewee, Bill Cosby put it this way about Larry,
“He has a unique combination of a big heart, a fine
mind, and an unquenchable desire to understand
everything and everybody.” Another comic and talk
show pro, Bill Maher, put it this way about tonight’s
honoree. “Larry King is the master of getting people
to open up and tell their story.”
In 50 years on radio and television, Larry King
amassed an amazing 50,000 interviews. Larry
King Live began on CNN in June 1985 and came
to an end on December 16, 2010, and it was
especially with that program where his unique
gifts as a communicator shone. In that time, he
conducted a wide variety of celebrity chats, indepth
interrogations, debates and discussions. And
while the show has ended, the King legacy goes on.
There will be Larry King specials, assuring his loyal,
worldwide audience that their voice—the guy on
the street—will continue representing them. r
6 National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
The Miami days With Mötley Crüe
Preparing to interview Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
With Bob Hope
With Brando
Emceeing a Sweet 16 party in Brooklyn